Christmas is over and we’re ready to celebrate the new year but not before we get yet another bit of disappointing news from retailers in fashion. Yep, you guessed it. Holiday sales numbers are still down for winter clothing because of the unexpectedly warm winter the east coast is having.

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Retailers have been giving discounts on their clothing since before the holiday season even began. New winter collections such as that of American Eagle were basically released at discounted prices online and every other apparel store has discounts from half off to 60% off with the main type of clothing being winter clothing. Clothing that should be the most expensive right now is on sale.

Though, sales seem to be improving as Sarah Halzack states in this article from the Washington Post. According to Halzack, “Retail sales were up 7.9 percent between Black Friday and Christmas Eve compared to the same period last year, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse…” This seems to include sales of women’s clothing as these same sales numbers are further exemplified by Sarah Quinlan, Senior Vice President of Marketing Insights at MasterCard in this article on the Providence Journal. According to the article,

Cooling temperatures in many parts of the country probably helped drive a double-digit sales increase in women’s clothing, which has been selling poorly for the past six months, Quinlan said. But not every retailer was a winner. Men’s apparel and electronic sales declined, as did luxury items such as watches and jewelry, she said.

This is good news but even though some holiday sales numbers are improving, they are still down. According to an article from Rueters by Nandita Bose and Kylie Gumpert, “the last Saturday before Christmas” is what sets annual records for retail sales, in competition with Black Friday, and “…In recent years, last-minute shopping has determined the success of the season, and a relatively weak final weekend bodes poorly for retailers.” The article continues to explain that an increase in online sales is partly why retailers have seen in-store sales decline.

What’s more, retailers aren’t just discounting clothing on the east coast. Discounts can be seen in stores across the country. I’m sure that giving discounts in areas where the weather is actually quite cool has helped sales numbers improve.

So, what do you think? Will sales numbers improve this winter? Let me know in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to get new posts sent directly to your inbox and follow me on Facebook, Imstagram, and Snapchat.